Great to meet you, PrincessLucy28! I joined a few days ago and am really enjoying it.Thanks for asking the question, as that is something I always wonder about. I'm reading a book now called The World According to Narnia by Jonathan Rogers, I think. I don't agree with everything in it, but have found it interesting. I love to see how great Aslan's love for Edmund is, and it reminds me of the Aslan of our world. And then how Edmund was able to comfort the newly undragoned (saved and sanctification started) Eustace. (Comforting others with the same comfort we've been given, as a verse says)I love how spiritually encouraging the books are, and look forward to reading more of this discussion.

"Not all that is called progress moves us forward." - H.K. Ward"Aslan's instructions always work, there are no exceptions." -Puddleglum

The thing is, CSL meant the stories as suppositions, not as allegories.

If you do want allegories he wrote Pilgrim's Regress. It is a bit like an inversion of another allegory, Pilgrim's Progress, which was written by John Bunyan, a 17th C Baptist, while they were still persecuted.

PP begins in the city of Destruction, Pilgrim sets out to find salvation.

PR begins in the country side of Puritania, John sets out to find something that talks more to his heart than - Puritanism.

Narnia is on the supposition (CSL clearly stated so): what if Christ / God the Son had created another world in which he was incarnated as a lion, et c.

5.) Keep in mind that none of the Chronicles is an “allegory,” a story in which a thing or a person (such as Giant Despair in Pilgrim’s Progress) directly stands for something else. The Chronicles do contain elements that remind us of the Christian Bible, but they do not always exactly mirror it or how God works in the real world. We want to encourage discussions to delve deeper than questions of “does the White Witch equal Satan” or “Peter is exactly like King David.” Lewis himself says,

Some people seem to think that I began by asking myself how I could say something about Christianity to children; then fixed on the fairy tale as an instrument; then collected information about child-psychology and decided what age-group I’d write for; then drew up a list of basic Christian truths and hammered out “allegories” to embody them. This is all pure moonshine. I couldn’t write in that way at all. Everything began with images; a faun carrying an umbrella, a queen on a sledge, a magnificent lion. At first there wasn’t even anything Christian about them; that element pushed itself in of its own accord. It was part of the bubbling.

Like any work, The Chronicles of Narnia has some allegorical elements, some intentional, some incidental. But you might want to Google "C.S. Lewis, supposal" to find his own discussions about why and how he wrote the Chronicles, and what he intended them to be.

Sometimes Christians act as though a fantasy story, or any story with speculative elements in it, must be "allegorical." Otherwise they don't know what to do with it! I suggest, though, that if any great story points to Jesus and Biblical truths, it is worth enjoying and studying. Christ will get glory from any great story, including His own parables, with or without allegory! Moreover, we benefit from a story not from the "secret codes" we can find within it, but from the beauties and truths of God that we find reflected in the story. Narnia, of course, is among the best.

princesslucy28 wrote:can someone tell me all the allegorys between narnia and the bible.... i know some like the stone table... but i would like some more to give some insight on the books

Hi there princesslucy28

I'd like to suggest that you will find these lovely parallels between Narnia and the Bible as you read the books. Don't look too hard, don't worry if you only find a few things at first that remind you of people or events in the bible.Every time you read a book again, you will notice new things.Enjoy!

(And if you were asking because you need to write an essay or paper for your study, then it really is better for you to look in the books yourself. You could also look online for articles about this topic).

"Blessed are you, Lord our God, king of the universe, who diversified his creatures" (a Jewish prayer to be said whenever one sees an unusual looking person or animal),

I would recommend the same advice as coracle - just go through the books and keep your eyes open for any similarities between events or characters in Narnia and events or characters in the Bible, or Christian principles. Think of them as a treasure chest, and every time you open them, you'll find something new and wonderful!

sig by Sheroo of Stormness Headavatar by meMember of the Dragon club. PM Narnia Girl or FFJ to join.RL sibling to De_De and wild rose

While there is no substitute for reading the chronicles and the Bible, I can name a few similarities between events in the books and real life.1. The Magician's Nephew shows Narnia's creation, which certainly happened here at some point.2. You mentioned another good example, the stone table.3. If you wanted to stretch a bit, you could point out how Aslan pushed Shasta/Cor to shore in the boat in The Horse and his Boy like Moses floated in the basket to Pharoh's daughter in The Horse and his Boy.4. I just realized that while there are many good lessons, there aren't many parallels between PC and the Bible, excellent evidence of how the series as a whole isn't allegorical.5. You could compare Eustace's transformation from jerk to hero is reminiscent of Paul's transformation from Christian hunter to famous Christian teacher.6. Same issue in SC as in PC.7. LB shows Narnia's end, which will one day happen to this world.

I agree with those who have said that it is not strictly an allegory but more of a supposition. Like Varnafinde has said, though, we can't stretch that beyond imagination, and we must remember that while Aslan is the divine figure in Narnia, he is a fictional character in ours. Though Lewis did a great job in many things, Lewis could have a different wavelength than I do, and he never claimed perfection.

I see a few inspirations in PC. Prince Caspian reminded me of the fugitive king story of David, and even the story of... was it King Josiah? (or Asa?) who was hidden by his nurse from his aunt, who wanted to kill him. Not perfect inspiration and definitely not as concrete as Moses and Shasta, to some degree, but interesting.

Hey that's an interesting idea, comparing Caspian to Josiah. I never thought about it, but it could certainly be an inspiration.

Shasta and Moses...I never thought about it, but you're right. He was drawn out of the water by Arsheesh. And then ran away, and had to go through the dessert. That's really cool.

Did you ever think that Peter being the eldest brother and becoming the High King could be an allegory of the apostle Peter and how Jesus said "upon this Rock I will build my church"? I mean Peter was one of the most important elders of the church. Just an interesting thought.

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